Bye, For Now
by honeybee9
Summary: Marlene gets to speak to Sirius one last time before he's gone forever. (please ignore the fact that Marlene is canonically dead at this point, I'm taking mild creative liberties)


I can't believe it.

It sounds so cliché. I've said it so many times before.

But I really can't believe it.

Sirius is going to Azkaban. For life. And I'm supposed to say goodbye to him, forever, in only five minutes?

Fuck.

Remus is here too, standing outside. We're the only ones. The only two people who want to speak to Sirius for more or less the rest of his fucking life. How's it only two? Yeah, James and Lily are dead but surely they're not the only ones that would come?

Then I remember. Oh, yeah, the whole god damn wizarding world thinks that Sirius is a Death Eater and betrayed his best friends, etc, etc. I don't know what actually happened, but I'm prepared to bet the contents of the family vault that Sirius didn't betray anyone. I know him better than that. Does Remus believe it? If he did, he probably wouldn't be here. What about Peter? He's probably too scared. Spineless-

"You go in first."

I look up quickly. It's an Auror, I don't recognise her. She's talking to Remus and he follows her into the room we're standing outside. She exits a moment later and smiles at me sympathetically. I glare at her. Does she feel sorry for me because she knows I love Sirius? Because all my family were killed and I only escaped because I fell asleep with Sirius? Whatever the reason, I don't need her pity. I just need my boyfriend.

The corridor is so quiet, I'm beginning to think it's got Silencing Charms on it. It wouldn't surprise me; we're just in the basement of the Ministry. Can't have the depressed and mad screams of prisoners awaiting trial disturb them. Of course, Sirius isn't getting a trial because of the git Crouch. It is unlike him though. He loves convicting criminals in court, showing off to the world. And Sirius is _huge _news right now… so why wouldn't he go to trial?

I mentally shake myself. My tendency to pyscho-analyse can be helpful but it's not a nice path to go down. I can delve deeper into it later.

You know how I was kind of joking about the Silencing Charms? Well, apparently, the rooms themselves definitely don't have Charms on them. Remus's voice rips through the silence.

"How could you do that? Actually, I suppose it's in your blood."

I feel myself bristle at that. How fucking dare he? All the Marauders knew how hard Sirius had fought to escape his family. Talk about below the belt…

Sirius's reply, if there even is one, is too quiet to hear. Remus, on the other hand, is not.

"Is that going to be your defence? Your family? Really, is that the best you can do?"

Oi, Remus, you prick, you're the one that brought family into the discussion!

He'd apparently managed to get enough of a hold on himself to regulate his volume, because I couldn't hear anything else. But what I had heard was enough.

The door opened and Remus came out, but I was ready for him.

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_

Not gonna lie, it was quite satisfying watching him freeze and fall to the ground.

Marlene, concentrate!  
"Black blood, eh? Really? I thought you had better insults than that, Lupin."

He does have the Body Bind Curse on him, so I don't get a response but his eyes narrow slightly.

"Bit of a low blow, in my opinion. I'm sure you remember the many Howlers, black eyes, bruises, scars, breakdowns, etc you've seen? He got all of them trying to escape that fucking family. Way to insult someone, criticizing their blood. Who else does that? Oh, that's right, only the fucking Death Eaters!"

I can tell my voice is turning into a hiss now. I'd prefer a roar but, you know, literally in the Ministry and everything.

"You saw his struggle to escape. You saw him try to physically remove the Black blood from him. You sat next to him in the Hospital Wing as he recovered, but you know his mental health never did! And you go and damage him, more than that life sentence is ever going to! You've turned your back on an innocent man. So you can watch as I turn mine on you."

I was pretty proud of that, not going to lie. I still want to scream and shout at him, show him what he's doing, show him that he's wrong. I don't know how though. All I can do is release the curse and glare at him as he silently stalks away.

The wall is my only support. I lean against it, thankful for the cold stone. I can't believe I just did that. Am I… proud? Ugh, I can't be bothered figuring out my emotions right now.

"You can go in now."

That'll be the Auror back then.

I throw another dark look at her and enter the tiny, dark room.

-OoO-

"Sirius? Oh Merlin…"

He looks… terrible. He's only been in Ministry custody for six hours and he already looks shit.

"Hey Marlene." "Are you alright? The fucking idiot Lupin said some- "

"Enough, Marlene. Concentrate on us, yeah?"

"Whatever. Sirius, how… how am I supposed to say goodbye to you? Forever? It's not fair, we're finally together and everything's going right and then this happens… but, you didn't do it, right?"

Sirius nearly fell off the chair he was chained to, which was quite impressive.

"Wha-? Marlene, seriously? You know I would rather die than betray any of you guys!"

"Woah, chill. I know you would, but with the god damn rollercoaster I've been on today, I needed confirmation. I got home from the shops this morning to three Aurors at my door."

"For real? Who?"

"Moody, Frank and another I didn't recognise."

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit! What did they do? Are you ok?"

"Chill, I'm alright. But… Sirius, how am I supposed to walk out of here, knowing it's the last time I'm ever going to see you?"

My voice breaks on the few words. I have no idea how I'm going to do this.

"Marlene? It's never going to be goodbye forever, alright? So, bye for now, alright?"

I look straight into his eyes, seeing the grey storm brewing there. I know my eyes must be full of despair as I say-

"Bye, for now."

He smiles and falls back into the chair. It's one of his rare _real _smiles and it's gorgeous. _He's _gorgeous.

And then the Auror comes back in and tells me to leave but I can't, I can't abandon Sirius here, I can't leave him alone but she's dragging me out and I can't find my wand and I'm screaming for Sirius and I'm out of the room and the door is slammed and Sirius is alone, but I'm alone too.

What the fuck do I do now?


End file.
